Page 23 of Dark Reasons

"I can't leave. Not until I kill—"

Jamison rises to his feet, the motion surprising me enough that I scoot my chair back. "Can I use your shower?"

"Oh, uh... I guess. Do you have a change of clothes?"

"I have everything I need in my trunk. I'll be right back."

"With more food?" I chuckle sarcastically.

He gives me a sharp look over his shoulder, then exits through my front door. I can'tfeelhis footsteps outside in the hall, or on the stairs, the way I can with any other visitor. Has he always moved so... silently? Earlier, when he left the first time, I hadn't even heard my door open.

He really meant it when he said he wants to be a ghost.

I box up the leftover food, tucking it into my small fridge.Maybe he'll forget about his share and I can eat it for breakfast.That would be way better than peanut butter on crackers.

"I'm back," he says behind me.

"Christ!" I gasp, whirling, falling against the fridge with my fingers clutching my chest. "Could you act like less of a creep?"

Jamison frowns, shouldering a small black backpack. "Moving quietly is ideal for my line of work. You should try stomping around less."

"I don't stomp!"

"I could hear you moving around while I was out in the hall. You stomp."

"Just go take your shower," I snap, pointing at the bathroom.

He walks to the bathroom without a word. Each step he takes is soundless, the loudest noise being the lock on the door snapping behind him.Maybe I SHOULD try to walk a little quieter,I think sullenly. How is he so good at that? Will he teach me if I ask him?Probably not. He doesn't seem to like me much.I have to find a way to prove I'm not going to betray him, or this situation is going to be unbearable.

No way I'm showing him my phone, that's out of the question.I pick it up and stare at the screen. Without him standing over me, I'm free to quickly delete my recent calls. My message box is blank.Just because I want him to trust me, doesn't mean I'll ever trust him.

Pushing my phone against my forehead, I clench my eyes shut and sigh. The weight of the day is starting to settle into my bones. Moving to my bed, I drop down heavily onto the messy blankets, leaving my phone next to my pillow. I have a perfect view of the bathroom door. I can hear the shower running... and I can, too easily, remember how I walked out in nothing but a towel earlier.

Flushing red I roll onto my side so I'm facing the front door. The pillow is cool under my cheek, and as much as I want to ignore the shower, the sound of it acts as white noise. My eyelids droop, then stick shut. The next thing I see is the darkness of my apartment.Why are the lights off?I sit up in confused panic, then grip my head, woozy.

"You fell asleep," Jamison's low rumble of a voice whispers.

Jerking sideways, I squint in the blackness until my eyes adjust. There's light coming through the window by the kitchen table. The dim orange of the streetlamps outside glint along Jamison's naked shoulders and thick neck. There are tattoos on his skin that his shirt once hid. Black, rich ink that follows the contours of his defined muscles.

He's sitting on the floor beside me, his lower half vanishing into a thin sheet. In the darkness I can't tell the color, but I know it's a threadbare yellow, because that's the only spare sheet I own. He must have found it in my...

"You went in my dresser?" I blurt.

"It was that or sleep on the bare floor." He reads my face. "I didn't dig through your personal stuff."

Biting my molars together I glance at my dresser. I can't tell if it's been riffled through. The sheetwasin the bottom drawer with my extra towels, so if he's telling the truth, that's all he touched. But I imagine him picking through my bras and panties and tense up. "You should have asked me."

"I didn't want to wake you. You were asleep when I got out of the shower."

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Just after 2 in the morning."

Smoothing my hair, I search around for my phone so I can confirm. It's not next to my pillow where I left it. "Where did my phone go?" A prickle goes up my neck; I shoot him a wary look. "You knew the time without looking. How?"

Jamison meets my stare quietly.

"Did you take my phone?" I ask point blank.

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